CIVIC CENTER — The NYPD will test new bullet-resistant vehicles this summer as a way to better protect officers, officials announced Tuesday.
Selected police officers in Brooklyn and Queens will drive 50 marked and 10 unmarked cars with new door panels and windows that are designed to stop bullets fired at close range, according to the department.
The pilot program comes after officers Brian Moore, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were killed in their vehicles.
"Our officers swear an oath to go toward the danger when it’s necessary to protect the public, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said during a press conference at One Police Plaza Tuesday. "We also have an obligation as a department, as an administration, to protect our officers to the best of our abilities."
#NYPD introducing vehicles with bullet resistant panels and glass. @DNAinfo pic.twitter.com/BQhkNagYXE
— Ben Fractenberg (@fractenberg) May 10, 2016
The panels — which are made out of a substance similar to Kevlar — have already been tested to stop .44 magnum bullets and shotgun shells.
They will be placed on the driver and passenger-side doors. A nearly 2-inch thick bullet resistant glass panel will also cover about half of the window space.
Police will test the panels for 60 to 90 days. If approved, they would be placed on about 4,000 vehicles, with a cost of about $4,200 per car.
The funds would come from asset forfeitures, or the sale of confiscated money and items, according to the NYPD.
"This is the latest in the effort of the department to try to do everything possible to protect our officers as they go in harm's way," Bratton said.
